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View Poll Results: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

For all the reasons people said above I voted No. People vote for new spending, but never taxes. And then on top of that you get special interest groups who try to formulate a specific set of circumstances which may not for whatever reason be allowed to all be placed in one ballot measure. So they divide it up into several. Now if all of them pass than the special interest wins, if some pass and some don't all you get is wasted money and laws which really have no purpose because their sister measure didn't get passed.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Originally Posted by jamesrage

What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Like of the of

I love them. It gives the people more control seeing how the employees of the people aka the government sometimes does a lousy job. I wish the constitution was amended to allow this on the federal level.

Here is a Wikipedia definition for those who do not know.

Politicians and the citizenry can do equally stupid things. However, it is our society, so I support this kind of law making.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Just as a comparison in light of the topic of this thread, referendums are quite important in an Australian context. S 128 of the Australian Constitution states that the Constitution may only be amended by way of a referendum. This idea was actually inspired by the Swiss constitution, and in my opinion provides an important source of popular sovereignty in that only 'the people' of Australia may ultimately decide how our fundamental law is to be altered.

Because these referendums have a number of inbuilt checks and balances, they do not produce outlandish results. Firstly, the proposed Constitutional amendment must be passed by Parliament. Then it is put to the people, whereupon it must gain a majority of votes in a majority of States. Because of these factors, combined with the inherent conservatism of the average Australian voter, only 8 out of 44 referendums have been successful. The most successful of these allowed the Parliament to make laws with respect to Indigenous Australians, and occurred in 1967. On the other hand, two unsuccessful referendums were, firstly, an attempt to allow the Parliament to legislate to ban the Communist Party and, secondly, an attempt to make Australia a republic by replacing the Governor-General with an appointed President.

I say this with a bit of national pride, but I do believe that the Australian method of Constitutional amendment, with its inbuilt checks and balances, is perhaps one of the smarter examples of referendum procedure that are out there.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

I do not think that the voters are smart enough to voice their concerns via referendum.
California has tried this and failed.
But, they are right about marijuana.
Is our nation mature enough for the legality of this noxious weed?
This must be done on a very local basis, maybe township or county.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Originally Posted by jamesrage

What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Like of the of

I love them. It gives the people more control seeing how the employees of the people aka the government sometimes does a lousy job. I wish the constitution was amended to allow this on the federal level.

Here is a Wikipedia definition for those who do not know.

I like them - I always research my vote.
But many people don't - it seems that my state just votes yes for every damn thing without reading them - and some of our voter's decisions have been ruled unconstitutional and they always win by the same margins.

A screaming comes across the sky.
It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

California is proof that it just doesn't work. I'd like to see it required that each and every initiative pass legal muster before it ever hits the ballot, there are far too many issues which are voted on which violate the Constitution and have to be tossed aside anyhow. How many millions of dollars are wasted voting on things that can't be passed in the first place? Further, I want to see unfunded bond issues made illegal. If you can't include, in the initiative, a way to pay it back, either through taxes or another means, then don't put it on the ballot.

There is nothing demonstrably true that religion can provide the world that cannot be achieved more rationally through entirely secular means.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

California is proof that people vote on gut feelings and so should not be trusted to make good decisions for others. Just speaking bluntly and honestly.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. Psalm 24"True law is right reason in agreement with nature . . . Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature [and] will suffer the worst penalties . . ." - Cicero

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

There are some things out there in which the public opinion is shifting rapidly but the politicians opinion remains the same, like Marijuana. The only way Marijuana is going to be passed is through voter initiatives. Politicians don't have the balls to put something like this up for vote.

I use a lot of satire and sarcasm so keep that in mind when reading my posts.

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

Originally Posted by BCR

There are some things out there in which the public opinion is shifting rapidly but the politicians opinion remains the same, like Marijuana. The only way Marijuana is going to be passed is through voter initiatives. Politicians don't have the balls to put something like this up for vote.

That measure failed in California in a popular vote.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully. Psalm 24"True law is right reason in agreement with nature . . . Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature [and] will suffer the worst penalties . . ." - Cicero

Re: What do you think of voter initiatives and referendums?

The initiative system is bad all the way around. First off, he elect representatives for a reason. You don't like the representatives and what they do?....then vote them out.
Initiatives are akin to vigilanteeism. 9 times out of 10 they are poorly written because they are written by people who don't have a clue what they are doing. They often contain hidden consequences that the public is unaware of and are often misleading and engage in deceptive advertising that gets people to vote for them without really understanding what will happen once the referendum becomes law.